


General Iroh, Dragon of the West

by kernvoss



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: One Shot, Other, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 13:34:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21162485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kernvoss/pseuds/kernvoss
Summary: You're not just any servant - you're the personal servant of Prince Iroh, General of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne.a quick one-shot with iroh as you follow general iroh from the walls of ba sing se to his return to the fire nation capitol





	General Iroh, Dragon of the West

_General Iroh, the Dragon of the West. First son of Fire Lord Azulon and heir to the throne. Father to Lu Ten, Prince of the Fire Nation._

There was a shimmer of pride in your belly as you thought of how powerful your General Iroh was. You might only be a servant, a petty bodyguard tasked mostly with pouring tea, but you were servant to the _heir of the Fire Nation_. General Iroh’s power glowed in a room of lesser men, and by mere proximity that light also showed in you. Other servants got out of your way as you passed through the Fire Nation Army’s tent city. All you were carrying was a letter, but people jumped at the sight of you as if you carried the weight of the world.

“A letter from your son’s Commander, General,” you said, bowing as you entered General Iroh’s tent. The General had a small table in front of him, his dinner getting cold as he read the latest report from the front lines. The Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se was breached, and your esteemed master had plans for the next one.

“Thank you, (F/N),” he said, immediately setting down the scroll and reaching for the one in your hand. General Iroh always stopped everything when his son was involved. You hadn’t met Prince Lu Ten, but with how often his father spoke of him, you felt like you knew him well.

You had only turned your back for a moment, checking the heat of the teapot, when you heard a strangled sound behind you. A shock of fear ran through you - had the General been poisoned? Attacked, with you right there in the room? You spun around–

And found General Iroh crying, the scroll you’d handed him crumpled in his clenched fist.

–

_General Iroh, the Dragon of the West. First son of Fire Lord Azulon and heir to the throne. Father to Lu Ten, Prince of the Fire Nation, now passed._

When people got out of your way now, it was always with a slightly pitying look on their faces. It wasn’t you they pitied, but your master; General Iroh had taken his son’s death badly, and everyone knew it.

The Seige of Ba Sing Se wasn’t going as well as it had before. In fact, it was being abandoned even as you marched to your master’s tent. General Iroh had lost his son, and his momentum in the battle had followed shortly. You bowed as you entered his tent, silent this time as the small group of Fire Nation Army leaders muttered over their map of Ba Sing Se. General Iroh sat at the head of the table, shadows under his eyes and a distant look on his face. He stared into his teacup, listless.

You gently took the teacup from your master’s hand, drawing the attention of the others. To be so forward with the Prince of the Fire Nation, the Dragon of the West–

“Please forgive the intrusion,” you said, bowing deeply. “I come bearing news from the Homeland.”

“This must be important,” one of the leaders said. You didn’t look up from your bow, instead sinking to your knees.

“Fire Lord Azulon has passed. All members of the War Council have been recalled to the capital at once, to observe the crowning of the new Fire Lord…” You paused, not wanting to finish. The men and women in the room waited with baited breath, ready to start posturing for their new Fire Lord. “Fire Lord _Ozai _will be crowned in one week’s time.”

–

_General Iroh, the Dragon of the West. Brother to Fire Lord Ozai. First son of Fire Lord Azulon, now passed. Father to Lu Ten, Prince of the Fire Nation, now passed._

The procession was slow. You had packed General Iroh’s things on the same night as the announcement, but it took more than a week to get to the Fire Nation capital from Ba Sing Se. Now you walked next to your master’s palanquin, slowly but surely headed toward the castle. The new Fire Lord stood at the door, his crown in place and a welcoming smile on his lips. There was a glint of pride in his eyes that didn’t seem quite befitting of a man whose father had died so recently.

“Fire Lord Ozai,” General Iroh said, bowing deeply before his brother. His younger brother, who should not have been Fire Lord before him. Iroh had taken it well, but you were still seething. General Iroh had been conquering the Earth Kingdom while his little brother sat at home, and yet Fire Lord Azulon had seen fit to make _Ozai _his heir?

“My dear brother,” Ozai said, that little smile turning into an almost wolfish grin. “Welcome home. I only wish your return didn’t have to be on such sad tidings.”

“As do I. It has been a long time, my brother. We have much to discuss.”

“Of course. But first, won’t you greet your niece and nephew? They’ve been looking forward to your return.”

“Of course! It is wonderful to see you again, my dear Prince Zuko, and my darling Princess Azula.” General Iroh bent to offer a hug to his extended family, and you watched out of the corner of your eye as Prince Zuko accepted the hug. Princess Azula hesitated, even glancing at her father, before joining in.

“But where is your wife? I have missed my sister-in-law Princess Ursa dearly.”

“My wife will not be joining us,” Fire Lord Ozai said. There was a sudden coldness in his voice, and you could almost hear the warning - _“don’t ask”_ \- in the way he said it.

“I miss Mom,” the young Prince Zuko said, his voice barely above a whisper. Too quiet for Fire Lord Ozai to hear, but just loud enough for your ears.

–

_General Iroh, the Dragon of the West. Brother to Fire Lord Ozai. First son of Fire Lord Azulon, now passed. Father to Lu Ten, Prince of the Fire Nation, now passed. Uncle to Prince Zuko, heir to the Fire Nation throne._

It was late, almost midnight. You were practicing with your swords, attacking a straw dummy with all your might. Sometimes the dummy was Fire Lord Ozai. Sometimes it was one of the other Generals, whispering behind their hands as your master walked by. They didn’t respect General Iroh as they should. So the Battle of Ba Sing Se hadn’t ended as well as they’d expected - so what? General Iroh had still gotten further in that siege than anyone else in history. He _deserved _respect.

“Wow, you’re really good at that,” a voice behind you nearly made you drop your swords. Spinning around, you almost pulled your back trying to bow and turn at the same time. Prince Zuko, his eyes a little reddened, stood just under a nearby tree. How long had he been watching you practice?

“It’s an honor to hear you say that, Prince Zuko,” you managed. General Iroh liked Prince Zuko, and though he was a little stuffy and definitely a crybaby, you’d decided you liked him, too. At least, you liked the little Princeling more than his awful younger sister.

“You don’t have to be so formal,” he whined. The Prince rubbed his eye, still staring at the swords in your hands. “Where’d you learn to be so good at that, anyway?”

“My father and mother were both skilled swordsmasters,” you said, straightening up from your bow. There was a long pause, but you swallowed and stepped forward, holding the swords out to the Crown Prince. “Would you like to try them?”

Prince Zuko started flailing at your dummy, the swords flashing. You might have laughed, if he weren’t swinging hard enough to hurt himself.

“You’re holding them wrong,” you said. He paused, turning to look at you as he panted. You approached, gently correcting his grip and posture with nudges from your feet and tugs from your hands. “Keep in mind, these are dual swords. Two halves of a single weapon. Don’t think of them as separate, ‘cause they’re not. They’re just two different parts of the same whole.”

**Author's Note:**

> -i know this doesn't follow the a:tla lore perfectly but it was fun to write so here it is  
-some of you who follow me on tumblr have probably already read this. figured i'd throw it in here, too.  
-might expand on it some day. i did already on tumblr but if i put more on ao3 it'll be a bit different


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